Feb 06, 2009

(CIDRAP News)  China's agriculture ministry said yesterday that it hasn't detected any poultry outbreaks in the provinces where recent human cases were reported, an apparent response to speculation that the country isn't reporting outbreaks and to suspicion about possible gaps in the surveillance system.

Dec 29, 2008

Editor's note: This story was revised Dec 30 to make clear that as of Dec 29, only two cases in the outbreak had been confirmed as Ebola. During the DRC's 2007 outbreak the government confirmed 17 cases, down from 25 it reported earlier, and initial reports during that outbreak mentioned as many as 395 suspected Ebola cases. Some of the suspected patients had other diseases, including shigellosis.

Jul 25, 2008

(CIDRAP News)  Animal health officials in Nigeria today reported finding the H5N1 avian influenza virus at two live bird markets, as officials in Hong Kong announced they would go ahead with a buyout of poultry farmers and merchants to reduce the risk of H5N1 outbreaks in the city.

Jun 23, 2008

(CIDRAP News)  A livestock official in Pakistan today confirmed that the H5N1 avian influenza virus has struck again in the country's North-West Frontier province, killing thousands of chickens at a commercial farm.

Ibrahim Kahn, a livestock department chief in Swabi district, where the outbreak occurred, said confirmatory tests were performed at a government laboratory in Islamabad, according to a report today from Agence France-Presse (AFP).